


Prove Yourself

by PockySquirrel



Category: Power Rangers Zeo
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-05
Updated: 2013-01-05
Packaged: 2017-11-23 17:28:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/624716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PockySquirrel/pseuds/PockySquirrel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Rocky tried to fight King Mondo by himself, Jason asked why he had done it. Rocky didn't say anything then, but Jason isn't about to let the question go unanswered.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Prove Yourself

**Author's Note:**

  * For [QueenRiley](https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenRiley/gifts).



The Power Chamber had its own training room. Most of the team didn’t know this; Rocky was only aware of it because he stumbled upon it after Billy sent him to find some component for whatever he was building at the time and he got himself lost in the sub-basement. If the others knew, they at least preferred the routine and normalcy offered by working out at the Youth Center. Usually Rocky was no exception to this; he liked the opportunity to get out and be around people who weren’t leading double lives as superheroes once in awhile. But the hidden room was a good place to get away and let off some steam in private, when the need arose. It was a need Rocky had been feeling progressively more often of late.

He had parked himself in front of some weirdly futuristic version of a punching bag and was throwing all of his weight into each blow, because he needed to. Because the moon had been silent ever since King Mondo was destroyed, and he just needed to _hit_ something. Because Adam and Tanya were off on another of their ‘it’s not a date’ dates, and Tommy and Kat were studying for the Economics final and simultaneously pretending not to study each other. Because Billy was off-planet again and Aisha was in Africa and Jason was – who the hell cared where Jason was, anyway? Because he was certain that none of them cared enough to wonder where he was. Because even though Mondo was gone and Rocky had almost gotten himself killed in the effort to make that happen, nothing had changed. Nothing at all. 

If he had it to do over again, knowing that, maybe he wouldn’t have decided to retreat when he did. 

He didn’t expect the doors to hiss open, not when nobody knew he was down here. He certainly didn’t expect to see the last person he wanted to see standing in the doorway. 

Rocky froze mid-punch. Jason didn’t make a move, just stood with his arms folded as if he was expecting Rocky to continue. But Rocky knew there was no way he’d be able to concentrate with those pitch-dark eyes all but boring into his skull. He’d been on the receiving end of that look before. The first time he met Jason, in the Command Center, as he and Adam and Aisha had sworn the oath to protect the secret identities of the Rangers. Again as Jason’s strong hands had pressed the Red Power Coin firmly into his palm. Jason had a way of sizing someone up with a single glance, in a way that never failed to make Rocky feel smaller, but also increasingly more determined not to let Jason down. He had spent an awful lot of time since he received his powers not wanting to let Jason down. He still spent a lot of time feeling as though he had. 

Sighing in resigned aggravation, Rocky relaxed his stance and turned toward his newest teammate. “What are you doing down here?” he asked. Feigned politeness seemed like too much of an effort at this point. 

Jason shrugged, managing to make even that simple gesture look powerful. “You didn’t show up at the Youth Center after school. After the other day…”

“You wanted to check up on me,” Rocky said flatly. It figured.

"I actually wanted to ask if you'd be interested in sparring with me," Jason replied, nonplussed.

Rocky regarded him warily. "Because the other guys aren't around?"

"Because I realized that you're the only one on the team I haven't gone up against yet, and I want to see what you've got."

Jason's tone was, as ever, casual and even. Maybe the implicit challenge in his words was real, and maybe it was just the invention of Rocky's restless mind and wounded pride. Either way, it ruffled Rocky enough that he couldn't back down from it. 

"All right," he agreed.

Jason was right, Rocky realized as they squared off, they had never done this before, and it was hard not to feel daunted by it. Even before he had met Jason, Rocky had been part of the martial arts scene in Stone Canyon long enough to know him by name, had even watched him compete once or twice. Back then, a lot of the guys spoke of him like he was some kind of titan. Undefeated, and perhaps undefeatable. And Rocky was never the type to believe everything he heard, but that day in the Command Center he had found himself hard-pressed not to feel awestruck. Because this was not just Jason Scott the martial arts prodigy. This was Jason Scott the Red Ranger. A true legend, not just a local one. 

But things had changed since then. They were on more equal ground now, though if anything Jason's absence and subsequent return had made him even more mythical to Rocky's mind. Jason, whose shoes Zordon had commanded him to fill. Whose legacy cast a red shadow over everything Rocky did for his first two years on the team, and who had reappeared just when he was starting to feel like he had found his way out from under it. Jason, his...teammate? That still felt strange. It seemed more natural for him to be set against Jason. Either chasing after him as he felt he had been doing for years, or facing off with him directly as he was now.

To treat Jason as a teammate felt alien. To treat him as a threat felt paranoid, and to treat him as a rival felt presumptuous. 'Opponent' seemed to suffice, for now. This was supposed to be a spar, after all. 

Rocky struck first, perhaps a little harder than he should have for a 'friendly' sparring match. But he felt justified - this _was_ Jason, and he would need to give it his all in order to stand a chance. And Jason didn't seem bothered by it - even seemed willing to give as good as he got. The dark cloud that had been hovering around Rocky's head lately and had driven him down here in the first place found that immensely satisfying. But something didn't seem right. Rocky had gone into this expecting to be defeated in short order. Instead, they seemed to be almost suspiciously evenly matched.

"Don't hold back for my sake," Rocky warned.

"You don't know me very well if you think that I would," Jason replied. 

Fair enough, Rocky thought, even if he was somewhat wary of the implicit compliment. But the invitation to continue, even to step up his game, that he'd take. 

Jason, in turn, took Rocky's statement as an invitation to break the silence between them. 

"You never answered my question," he said.

"What question?"

"The other day. I asked why you went after Mondo by yourself. You never answered me."

Rocky glowered at him, suddenly tense, but the expression on Jason's exertion-flushed face remained calm, albeit cautious. He clearly knew that the ground he was treading on was dangerously unstable, but had decided to walk there anyway. 

"Does it matter?" he asked tersely.

"It does to me."

"Why?"

"Because you're still fighting like you have something to prove."

All of the tension that had been building up in Rocky broke at that moment, as did his carefully maintained discipline. He struck out in anger, dimly aware that he was breaking the cardinal rule of his training but simultaneously unable to make himself care, because yes. He did have something to prove. And Jason was the one he had to prove it to.

To his credit, Jason blocked. But the strike was enough to unbalance him, and he caught himself as his knee hit the lightly padded floor. Rocky took a reflexive step away as he snapped back to awareness, and mentally cursed at himself. Fighting Mondo alone had been a stupid move, but laying into a fellow Ranger like that was just inexcusable. He felt like he should apologize, but couldn't quite manage to get the words out. 

To Rocky's surprise, Jason laughed softly as he picked himself up. "See, that’s what I meant when I said I was glad you’re on our side.”

Rocky blinked, guilt quickly giving way to confusion. “Wait…you’re not mad at me?”

“I could ask you the same question.”

Rocky blushed, ducking his head like a chastised child. “Sorry.”

Jason shook his head. “Don’t be. Things have been a little weird for all of us lately. I wouldn’t have come down here if I wasn’t expecting you to get emotional.”

“Why _did_ you come down here, anyway?” Rocky asked, eyeing him suspiciously. 

“I already told you,” Jason replied evenly. 

Despite being unable to shake the feeling that there was definitely more to the story, Rocky gave up and decided not to push the issue. 

“Fine, if you say so,” he relented. “How did you know I was down here, though?”

“Lucky guess?”

“I didn’t even think anyone else knew there was a training room down here. Well, except for Billy, but he knows everything about this place.”

“I’m not sure anyone else does. No one else knew about it when I found it, and that was before the rest of you joined the team.”

“So how did you find it?”

Jason’s expression turned faintly sheepish. “Would you believe that Billy sent me to get some parts for him and I got lost in the sub-basement?”

“…You’re kidding.”

“I wish.”

Rocky laughed, for what felt like the first time in far too long. “Oh man. I guess some things never change.”

Jason thought about that for a second, and almost looked comforted by the statement. “Yeah…I guess some things don’t.”

“So, did you ever train down here before?”

“Once or twice. Right after Tommy joined the team, when I didn’t feel like dealing with him.”

And with that, things suddenly made sense. Out of anything in the realm of possibilities that had crossed Rocky’s mind, it had never occurred to him that Jason could know what he needed or understand how he felt. That his seemingly infallible predecessor had once been standing in the exact same spot – literally and figuratively. 

Apparently, he and Jason had more in common than he ever would have guessed. And for some reason, he felt good about that. 

He smirked, communicating to Jason in no uncertain terms that he had figured it out. “Lucky guess, huh?” 

Jason’s dark eyes sparkled mischievously. Message received. “That’s right.”

“So, do you want to go again?” Rocky offered, tentatively. “I promise I’ll play nice this time.”

That was clearly the right answer; Jason broke into a broad grin and took his stance. “You’re on,” he agreed. 

Rocky found himself spending a lot more time with Jason after that, and the only weird thing about it was that he didn’t feel weird about it. Nothing had changed, really. Aisha was still gone and Adam was still ignoring him. Billy was still light-years away even when he wasn’t. Tommy was still preoccupied with his own drama and Kat was still preoccupied with worrying about Tommy. Things had changed, things were wrong, and he still occasionally felt like the one Ranger that the team needed least. But none of it seemed to matter quite as much.

Now, at least, he didn’t have to face these things alone. 


End file.
